Tag - Auto

14 Aug

Making structural changes to diversify from auto industry – JSW Steel

Update on Indian equity market:
Nifty remained muted on the weekly expiry day, ending 8 points lower at 11,300. Within NIFTY50, TATAMOTORS (+4.5%), LT (+4.4%) and HINDALCO (+4.2%) were the top gainers while SUNPHARMA (-2.1%), EICHERMOT (-2.1%) and BHARTIARTL (-2.0%) were the top losers. Among the sectoral indices, MEDIA (+1.4%), AUTO (+1.2%) and METAL (+1.1%) were the highest gainers whereas PSU BANKS (-1.0%), PHARMA (-0.9%) and BANK (-0.3%) were the laggards.
Excerpts of an interview with Mr. Seshagiri Rao, Joint Managing Director & CFO, JSW Steel (JSW) published in Economic Times dated 04th August 2020:
•Mr Rao said that in the normal scenario, the company was supplying about 2 million tonne to the Auto sector from the total annual capacity of 15 million tonne. During the pandemic lockdown, the number had dropped by as much as about 65%.
•The company is witnessing demand for steel picking up in tractors and two-wheelers. The demand from top-2 passenger car makers, Maruti and Hyundai has been improved in July over June. The demand for steel in the commercial vehicles segment however remained depressed.
•The company’s alloy steel plant at Salem produces about 1 lakh tonne out of which 70,000 tonne capacity is on rolling basis. There is one bloom mill completely dedicated to the auto sector, and there is a bar mill which can have multiple applications, and finds use in the sectors other than the auto also.
•In the lockdown, the bar mill production was not reduced, whereas the bloom mill production came down to 0 in the month of April, which is currently operating at 10,000- 15,000 tonne a month.
•The changes that company is making on the Auto side are not temporary, they are all structural. The growth in demand for steel from the Auto sector is not the same as the industry has witnessed in the past. He expects it to never be the same and therefore diversification has a strategic component with itself.
Consensus Estimate: (Source: market screener website)
•The closing price of JSW Steel was ₹ 259/- as of 13-Aug-2020. It traded at 38x/13x/ 9x the consensus EPS estimate of ₹ 6.8/ 20.5/ 27.8 for FY21E/ FY22E/ FY23E respectively.
•Consensus target price of ₹ 233/- implies a PE multiple of 8x on FY23E EPS of ₹ 27.8.
Disclaimer: “The views expressed are for information purposes only. The information provided herein should not be considered as investment advice or research recommendation. The users should rely on their own research and analysis and should consult their own investment advisors to determine the merit, risks, and suitability of the information provided.”

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05 Aug

Auto demand picking up as the festive season nears – Maruti Suzuki

Update on the Indian Equity Market:

On Tuesday, Nifty ended 1.9%, higher than the previous close at 11,095. The top gainers for Nifty 50 were Reliance (+7.4%), Zee (+6.4%), and HDFC Bank (+3.8%) while the losing stocks were Tech M (-2.8%), BPCL (-2.5%), and IndusInd Bank (-2.0%). The sectoral gainers for the day were Media (+3.8%), Financial Service (+2.3%) and Pvt Bank (+2.0%) while the losers were IT (-0.9%) and PSU Bank (-0.02%).

Edited excerpts of an interview with Mr RC Bhargava, Chairman, Maruti Suzuki; dated 04th August 2020 from CNBC TV18:

  • Auto sales in the month of July have seen a substantial improvement as compared to June and the demand is seen picking up ahead of the festive
  • Demand is beginning to pick up as the festival season is coming up. Maruti is gradually ramping up production but there are still problems as the factories are working at anywhere near 100% capacities. Safety regulations limit the capacity utilization. So with all of that, Maruti is trying to meet the demand and get up to last year without any forecast or guarantees of what is going to happen.
  • He highlighted that the number of enquiries was large and bookings were going along quite normally, compared to last year.
  • There is the pent-up demand from last year as there is some requirement of people to have mobility as the economy is opening up. However, he expects the situation for six months down to remain uncertain because of negative factors such as lower income levels of people caused by the shutdown in business activities.
  • Hospitality and travel businesses have closed down which were users of vehicles.
  • In terms of the cost of a vehicle in relation to per capita income, he believes that has gone up probably a little faster because of new regulations on safety and emissions.
  • The steel prices have never been on a straight line. There has been a period when steel prices have gone up sharply than they have flattened out and come down and then the cycle reverses. In the last two years, there were periods when steel prices were declining and they are benefited from that. Thus, he is not so worried about the increase in steel prices.
  • Talking on the personal mobility issue he said that the percentage of buying cars which are the smaller entry-level hatchbacks has gone up. The increase in the percentage of people wanting to buy small hatchbacks is an indicator that there is a requirement of people to have a small car for doing all kinds of things, going to school, going shopping and other forms of transport. So he thinks that there is some section of the consumers that needs to have personal transport instead of using shared transport or some other form of transport.

Consensus Estimate: (Source: market screener and investing.com websites)

  • The closing price of Maruti Suzuki India Ltd was ₹ 6,361/- as of 04-August-2020. It traded at 45x/27x the consensus EPS estimates of ₹ 141/239 for FY21E/FY22E respectively.
  • The consensus target price of ₹ 5,698/- implies a PE multiple of 24x on FY22E EPS of ₹ 239/-.

Disclaimer: “The views expressed are for information purposes only. The information provided herein should not be considered as investment advice or research recommendation. The users should rely on their own research and analysis and should consult their own investment advisors to determine the merit, risks, and suitability of the information provided.”

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26 Jun

Focus on cash conservation & tightening capital allocation – M&M

Update on the Indian Equity Market:

Markets remained muted amid monthly F&O expiry as Nifty closed the day 0.2% lower at 10,289. The top gainers for Nifty 50 were ITC (+5.6%), HEROMOTOCO (+2.9%) and BAJFINANCE (+1.9%) while the losing stocks for the day ASIANPAINT (-3.1%), HINDALCO (-2.3%) and IOC (-2.1%). The gaining sectors for the day were FMCG (+2.3%), PHARMA (+0.8%) and BANK (+0.4%) whereas IT (-1.2%), REALTY (-1.0%) and METAL (-0.6%) were the losing sectors for the day.

Edited excerpts of an interview with Mr Pawan Goenka, Managing Director, Mahindra & Mahindra Ltd (M&M); dated 15th June 2020 from CNBC TV-18:

  • Mr Goenka said that the board took a decision that the Company needs to be much tighter on  capital allocation and prioritize where they want to put the money.
  • M&M is looking at all the subsidiaries right now to see whether they will be turning around profitable in the next two years. The company will take the decision in the coming few months about its subsidiaries.
  • Speaking about Peugeot Motorcycles, he said it was hit due to the pandemic. As per the plan, it could have been profitable during this year. However, due to COVID-19, the factories in China are down for quite some time. The company has lost the full peak season in Europe. The management will take the decision on the future of Peugeot motorcycles after reviewing its future.
  • Mahindra Electric turned EBITDA positive in FY20 and the company is on the way to become profit positive or cash-flow positive in the coming quarters.
  • He is confident about the strength of the balance sheet to fight the pandemic. The company holds a fairly strong cash position with more than Rs 100,000 mn cash on its balance sheet.
  • In the near term, the company’s primary objective is to find a third party investor in Korean manufacturer SsangYong as it is in need of cash for survival. 
  • The company reported a consolidated net loss of Rs 32,550 mn during the 4QFY20 due to the COVID-19. In the tough economic period, the company is looking to focus on capital allocation strategies.

Consensus Estimate: (Source: market screener, investing website)

  • The closing price of M&M Ltd was ₹507/- as of 25-June-2020. It traded at 20x/ 15x the consensus EPS estimate of ₹ 25.3/ 33.6 for FY21E/ FY22E respectively.
  • The consensus target price of ₹ 558/- implies a PE multiple of 17x on FY22E EPS of ₹ 33.6/-.

Disclaimer: “The views expressed are for information purposes only. The information provided herein should not be considered as investment advice or research recommendation. The users should rely on their own research and analysis and should consult their own investment advisors to determine the merit, risks, and suitability of the information provided.”

 

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23 Mar

Maruti Suzuki readies strategy to deal with coronavirus impact: CV Raman, Maruti Suzuki

Update on the Indian Equity Market:

Markets bounced back strongly to end a highly volatile week and Nifty closed 5.6% higher at 8,284. During the current week, Nifty traded in the range of 7,833 – 9,602, that’s a lot to digest for the investors! Out of fifty stocks from the index, 8 stocks traded above 10% and 31 stocks traded above 5%. ONGC (17.9%), GAIL (15.4%) and INFRATEL (14.9%) were the highest gainers. Five stocks among the index closed lower with INDUSINDBK (-1.4%), HDFCBANK (-1.3%) and ADANIPORTS (-1.1%) were the biggest losers. All the sectoral indices, FMCG (8.8%), IT (8.5%) and METAL (7.7%) led the gains. None of the sectors ended the day in the red.

Excerpts from an interview with Mr CV Raman, Executive Director, Maruti Suzuki published in CNBC TV-18 on 17th March 2020:

  • As Coronavirus is spreading fast across the world, Maruti Suzuki is working on two-pronged strategy to minimize the impact of the pandemic.
  • He said that officials at the company are assessing the impact of the pandemic on sales. The company has started focusing more on digital marketing and delivery of cars from service centres directly to customers. He mentioned that automakers have already reported a 15 per cent de-growth in FY20.
  • About the measures taken to curb the virus, he said that the company has issued advisories to its employees and suppliers. He added that the company is reducing physical contact by doing meetings through video conferencing and reducing visits of suppliers to Maruti’s offices.
  • While several automobile manufacturers have expressed concern about the impact of the disease on supply chains from China and South Korea, Raman said Maruti was in a position to manage supply chains well. He said that most of the tier-1 suppliers are in India and the company is able to get the supplies as per production requirements.
  • The Federation of Automobile Dealers have moved the court seeking a grace period for sell and registration of BS-IV vehicles after March 31 as dealers are saddled with inventory and coronavirus has impacted sales. Individual companies are also considering moving court to seek an extension. He said that for Maruti which began executing its BS-VI transition a year back does not need any intervention at this stage.
  • Introduction of BS-VI standards are set to make diesel vehicles significantly more expensive. Considering the cost implications, the company has stopped production of diesel cars for the moment but hasn’t ruled out a higher capacity diesel engine in future. The company currently has CNG variants in seven models and planning to increase the range of CNG offerings this year.
  • He refused to comment on future products but said that Maruti would be actively participating in the growing SUV segment.

Consensus Estimate: (Source: market screener website and investing.com websites)

  • The closing price of Maruti Suzuki was ₹ 5,094/- as of 17-March-2020.  It traded at 25x/ 20x/ 16x the consensus EPS estimate of ₹ 202/ 255/ 314 for FY20E/ FY21E/ FY22E respectively.
  • Consensus average target price for Maruti Suzuki is ₹ 7,246/- which implies a PE multiple of 23x on FY22E EPS of ₹ 314/- .
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04 Dec

Bajaj Auto- Exports saved the day for Bajaj Auto in November.

Excerpts from an interview of Mr Rakesh Sharma- ED- Bajaj Auto with CNBC- TV18

Update on the Indian Equity Market:

On Tuesday, NIFTY closed 0.5% lower. Among sectoral indices NIFTY PSU Bank (-2.9%), NIFTY Metal (-2.6%), and NIFTY Media (-2.4%) closed lower. While NIFTY Realty (+1.3%) and NIFTY IT (+0.5%) closed on a positive note. The biggest losers were Yes Bank (-7.6%), Bharti Infratel (-5.8%), Tata steel (-5.2%), whereas Bajaj Auto (+3.1%), Bajaj FinServ (+1.7%) and TCS (+1.6%) ended with gains.

  • They do not expect the sales in the month of December to hit      4 lakhs because it is a seasonally weak month.
  • Exports will continue to grow. But 3 wheelers and the domestic market will see a pullback when the model year changes.
  • The company is holding steady margins and there is no sacrifice of margins.
  • There is no need to shore up the sales in an unnatural way as November and December follow a high season period.
  •  The mix is holding steady for the company, 3-wheeler are improving and there is a gentle tailwind on the exchange rate side. So, the margins are not going to see any shift
  •  Speaking about international markets and exports, the international performance is steady and solid and the key driver for this has been the African continent where the economies are doing well.
  • Bajaj has a competitive position in the African continent, with every 3 bikes sold one is of Bajaj.
  •  Bangladesh and the Philippines are acting as bright stars and are an important market for Bajaj.
  • These markets are doing better than industry and are in top-10 markets for the company.
  •  Speaking about price hikes post BS-VI transition, Bajaj will have to look internally and externally but certainly, the prices will increase.
  • Given the situation of the economy any kind of price increase will have a dampening effect on the demand.

Consensus Estimate (Source: market screener)

·        The closing price of Bajaj Auto Ltd was ₹ 3261/- as of 03-December-2019. It traded at 18.5x/ 17.3x/ 16.8x the consensus EPS for FY 20E/ FY 21E/ FY 22E of ₹ 176/ 188/ 194 respectively.

·        Consensus target price of ₹ 3,069/- implies a PE multiple of 15.8x on FY22E EPS of ₹ 194/-.

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10 Oct

M&M Finance- 2HFY20 to be better

Update on the Indian Equity Market:

On Wednesday, NIFTY closed 1.7% higher. Among the sectoral indices NIFTY Bank (+3.7%), NIFTY PVT bank (+3.5%), NIFTY PSU bank (+3.1%) closed higher while NIFTY Media (-0.3%), NIFTY FMCG (-0.2%) NIFTY IT (-0.8%) ended on a negative note. The biggest gainers were IndusInd Bank (+5.5%), Infratel (+5.3%), Bharti Airtel (+5.2%) whereas Yes bank (-5.2%), Hero motocorp (-2.8%), Zee (-2.4%) ended on a negative note.

Excerpts from an interview with Mr. Ramesh Iyer – Chairman & Managing Director, M&M Financial Services.

  • Mr Ramesh said, “We have been focusing on the semi-urban rural market and we do see that the festival demand, at least the footfall at the dealerships are much much higher than what it was in the last six months.”
  • According to him, the festival season would turn out to be good and normally the second half for the rural market is always good, given the festival, and harvest has been in widespread range. Put together, he expects demand to pick up and the second half to be good.
  • They have revised FY20 loan growth numbers and there are four reasons for that:
    • Their deeper penetration is an advantage as they get volumes from the deeper pockets. 
    • Multi-product approach that they have been taking. Their growth is not dependent on a single product. 
    • They have been little more aggressive in pre-owned vehicle like pre-owned cars, tractors, UVs, etc, and they do see demand for a pre-owned vehicle in the rural market picking up.
    • Large customer base.
  • They have not seen too much competition and they expect some market share growth. So, that is one growth possibility.
  • Pre-owned vehicle segment has been a little aggressive and they do see growth coming from there. While the heavy commercial vehicle segment is not growing, they have a very small base or a low base and they do expect some volume growth there, given the total volume.
  • As far as the pre-owned vehicle is concerned, they were concentrating on cars and UVs. Now, they have also gone into pre-owned tractor financing and that is another very exciting segment.
  • These are the growth drivers and market share gain from their prime products like UV or car segment altogether is helping them maintain growth.
  • They do not see an issue to really worry about from the asset quality front but it all depends on yields. What is going to be the price that will get announced because the farm cash flow is important from a rural perspective, but they believe that given the widespread monsoon, at least in some of the states, the yields would be good.
  • They do not, therefore, see a spike in NPAs but there are some pockets where one could witness delay.
  • Their focus area is going to be semi urban, rural market and that is what they have done for the last 25 years. They do see a pick up in sentiment and they expect that in the next six months, with the festival and the harvest coming up, they should see some buoyancy in that market.
  • They are borrowing from banks, own debentures, fixed deposits and that has helped them maintain growth. But yes, there has been some increase in cost that they have witnessed initially but now that is climbing down.
  • Liquidity has not been an issue and as cost seems to get addressed, they feel a little more comfortable than that of six months back.
  • They will be open to any inorganic growth opportunity, but they do not have anything on the tables at this stage. But clearly, it has to have a strategic fit, a cultural fit and that is what they will look for.

Consensus Estimate (Source: market screener website & Investinng.com website)

  • The closing price of M&M Finance was ₹ 334 /- as of 09-10-19. It traded at 1.7x /1.5x/1.4x x the consensus book value for FY20E/ FY21E/FY22E of ₹ 194 /₹ 218/ ₹242 respectively.
  • Consensus target price of ₹ 378/- implies a P/B multiple of 1.6 x on the FY22 book value of ₹242 /-
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